Monthly Archives: August 2017

On Thursday 17th August, two Hub students will be travelling to Virginia, USA, to compete in the Virginia tech KnowledgeWorks Global Student Entrepreneurship Challenge.

Each year the University of Kent selects a student, or a team of students, to compete at the Virginia Tech University in the USA along with students from 14 other countries. These students all have one thing in common: a great business idea.

The University of Kent represents the UK to compete in this prestigious competition with other countries including Ecuador, France and Australia. Students pitch their business ideas with the chance to win $25,000 and the title of ‘Global Entrepreneurship Champion’.

The University of Kent’s entry this year is “ToDo”- the business idea of students Daniella Golden and Saga Rad. ToDo is an online platform for collaborative environmental volunteering with a connected webshop.

Daniella and Saga put forward a business idea for the University of Kent Big Ideas Competition, run as part of the Hub for Innovation and Enterprise. The duo were selected to receive comprehensive mentoring to prepare for the Global Entrepreneurship Champion Competition and free workspace at the University’s business incubation and support unit.

Daniella and Saga will be presenting their business idea at 20.35 (BST) On Thursday 24th August You can support our student entry and watch live here.

If you have a business idea or would like to find out more about how the University supports students looking to start-up a business please email email us.

Kent Sport staff member Lesley Parker set off on Saturday morning with her husband Andy and good friends Lizzie and Martin, on an epic cycle ride of 1,125K (700 miles) through France. The adventure started in Bishopsbourne and will end in Bagneres de Luchon in the Pyrenees. The idea was hatched one evening in their local pub (the Mermaid) over a pint or two. The group will end their adventure at Billy’s Bar- a local bar in Luchon where people enjoy watching the Tour de France each year.

Lesley has trained hard by cycling to work along with a few gym sessions and a lot of encouragement from her colleagues and friends. She has chosen the Pilgrims Hospice as her charity and just hopes she can keep up with the other three! Kent Sport wishes her luck.

Lesley says of her chosen charity “I have personally seen the excellent care and support that the Canterbury Hospice provides for family members and friends. I recently took part in the annual cycle ride for the hospice which was supported by Kent Sport where I work. The vision for hospice care is that everyone in east Kent should have access to service so they can cope with life-limiting illness with dignity and free from pain. Pilgrims Hospices has been providing end of life care and support for patients and their families across east Kent for more than 30 years. It is for these reasons that I am determined to complete the journey”.

To support Lesley in her epic ride and fundraising efforts for Pilgrims Hospices you can visit her JustGiving page. To find out more about the team and their route visit their Facebook page for updates.

In w/c 21 August 2017 there will be several service disruptions across campus. Please see below for details.

Grounds Maintenance work

Works on the woodland area between the Security and Transport Centre and the Marlowe Building will start on Monday 21st August lasting for three days. Areas which will be affected will be the pathway adjacent to the Marlowe Building, the Jarman Plaza and the Eliot footpath.

Large construction vehicles will be operating in this area throughout the works. Banksmen will be in place to inform the public what work is being carried out, and to help guide other vehicles when they are moving in the area.

Cornwallis South – Annual Emergency Light Testing

On Tuesday 22nd August the annual emergency light test is due to take place in Cornwallis South from 08:30am – 11.30am.

The test will take approximately 3 hours and lighting levels will be reduced for the duration.

Darwin and Tyler Court- Portable Appliance Testing (P.A.T)

From Tuesday the 22nd of August 2017 until approximately Friday the 29th of September 2017, the portable appliance testing for Darwin College and Tyler Court is due to take place.

Please ensure all equipment is available for testing.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and we will endeavour to keep any disruption to a minimum. If there are any queries please call the Estates Helpdesk on ext. 3209.

The Department of Classical & Archaeological Studies is delighted to announce that Graham Landon has completed his PhD, with a project entitled ‘The Speeches in Herodotus and Thucydides: a Comparison’, under the supervision of Dr Csaba La’da.

Graham’s thesis asks why did the two great classical Greek historians use speeches in their narratives? Why did Thucydides, who appears so critical of his predecessor in other respects, follow Herodotus in employing this technique? What common sources may have influenced both authors in their inclusion of speeches? His thesis sets out to answer these critical questions as well as providing an original comparative statistical analysis of the speeches in both works.

Our congratulations to Dr Landon.

For more details of the PhD in Classical & Archaeological Studies, please see the website

Once you have registered make sure you get involved in all that Welcome Week (or as some people call it, ‘week 0’) has to offer.

This week is a helpful introduction to the University and its services, including the Library and your students’ union, getting you ready for when teaching starts on 25 September 2017.

Even if you’re not living in University accommodation you still need to attend Welcome Week.

Get the most from Welcome Week and make sure you…

Go to the Welcome Fair on Wednesday 20 September. This is your opportunity to find out more about all the societies and sports teams you can join. You can also pick up a few freebies from local businesses.

Attend your school’s induction events. School induction events are a great opportunity to meet fellow students studying similar courses to you, while discovering the wide range of support services provided by your school. Contact your school for more information.

Take the Library tour. When studying at university the library will be a key resource, so it’s important you know how to use all the services and where to go for help.

Once you have registered make sure you get involved in all that Welcome Week (or as some people call it, ‘week 0’) has to offer.

Welcome Week is a helpful introduction to the University and its services, including the Library and Kent Union, getting you ready for when teaching starts on 25 September 2017.

Even if you’re not living in University accommodation you still need to attend Welcome Week.

Get the most from Welcome Week and make sure you…

Go to the Welcome Fairs on Thursday 21 and Friday 22 September.This is your opportunity to find out more about all the societies and sports teams you can join. You can also pick up a few freebies!

Attend your school’s induction events. School induction events are a great opportunity to meet fellow students studying similar subjects to you, while discovering the wide range of support services provided by your school. Contact your school for more details.

Find out all you need to know about Library and IT services by attending a welcome session in the Templeman Library. Check your timetable or drop in. View our Hello Library! Hello IT! webpages for help.

The University’s 2017 European Summer Schools, at its postgraduate centres in Paris and Brussels, have reported another successful year.

Launched in 2013, the two-week summer school programme is built on Kent’s specialist knowledge and international reputation as the UK’s European university by offering a number of undergraduate students and external applicants the opportunity to participate in academic sessions and cultural activities in these two world-renowned European capitals.

This year, students at the University’s Brussels School of International Studies (BSIS) explored the theme of ‘Europe and the World’, which drew upon the academic strengths of the school. Within this context, various sub-themes were also covered; these included migration and the refugee response, the European Union’s (EU) relationship with emerging powers, and its response to the global economic crisis.

Students also participated in a series of guest lectures, seminars and debates delivered by academics, policy-makers, diplomats and European civil servants. This summer school was designed to allow them to discover how the EU functions, with a particular focus on how it acts as a global organisation and the challenges it faces in today’s world.

Students also benefited from a careers workshop which provided an insight into a range of employment opportunities as well as the transferable skills which are attractive to potential employers.

Students at Kent’s Paris School of Arts and Culture, located in historic Montparnasse, explored the theme of ‘Revolutions’. This allowed them to gain a greater understanding of how French culture has long been at the centre of innovation in the fields of architecture, film, literature, art and philosophy

Students spent two weeks in Paris in an interdisciplinary environment, attending seminars given by expert academics from Kent and visiting important sites and museums related to the programme. These included the Pompidou Centre, the Picasso Museum and the Jardin des Plantes.

Sophie Punt, Summer School Co-ordinator at the University, described this year as ‘one of the best to date’. It was successful in many respects she said but ‘overall this year’s schools have provided students with not only enhanced intercultural and analytical skills, but also provided them with an opportunity to see Europe and its role in the world from a range of different perspectives’. Looking ahead we are hoping to run a summer school at our Rome centre for 2018 which will draw on the expertise in Arts and History-based studies in the eternal city.

We would like to extend our thanks to the generous supporters of the schools including the Student Projects Fund for their generous contribution towards the scholarships.

Part of the University’s internationalisation strategy; the University of Kent Summer Schools have just taken place for the second year running at our Canterbury campus with more schools having taken part than ever before.

Students from all over the world signed up to participate in our two-week postgraduate-level Summer Schools which ranged from ‘European Security and Foreign Policy’ with the School of Politics and International Relations to ‘Investigating the Social Mind’ with the School of Psychology. This year we also had schools taking part for the first time including Kent Business School who ran a course on ‘Global Business in a Dynamic Environment’.

Students were able to gain an insight into studying with one of the UK’s top Universities; participating in expert seminars and workshops in their field of study and gaining valuable life skills to take with them in their continuing studies and into the workplace.

One student on the Business Summer School has summed up her experience on the course as follows: “I can honestly say that I have learnt so much in such a short space of time. During the two weeks, we have had the privilege of being taught by some of the best professors from the University of Kent discussing different topics ranging from law to marketing and hearing about their personal experiences and lessons learnt in the world of business. We did this whilst writing an editorial piece – something I had never done before. We were assisted and guided by our professors and researchers and now, I can confidently say that I can write an editorial about any subject- not only in international business.

It is not only the course and the taught material that I enjoyed; I met a wonderful group of people and made friends from different countries, got to explore the beauty of Canterbury, Whitstable and London, through trips led by Kent’s student ambassadors, and got to experience what it was like to study Masters at the University of Kent. I have already suggested Kent’s summer courses to my University in Jordan, as I believe that plenty of other students will enjoy the experience and will truly benefit from it.’’

Summer Schools Co-ordinator Sophie Punt has described the summer schools as “diverse and enriching opportunities allowing students to not only learn in depth about the subject matter but gain intercultural awareness and meet peers from all over the world. Students have been very enthusiastic and made the most of their time in Canterbury.”

Applications for our summer schools in Canterbury and at our European centre’s for summer 2018 will be opening soon.